A new sugar tax on the soft drinks will be introduced in the UK the chancellor announced yesterday.

The move has been hailed by campaigners as a significant step in the fight against child obesity.

So how will the sugar tax work?

The levy is squarely aimed at high sugar drinks- particularly fizzy drinks, which are popular among teenagers.

Pure fruit juices and milk based drinks will currently be excluded and the smallest producers will have an exemption from the scheme.

It will be imposed on companies according to the volume of the sugar sweetened drinks they produce or import.

There will be two bands – one for total sugar content above 5g per 100 millilitres and a second, higher band for the most sugary drinks with more than 8g per 100 millilitres. Analysis by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility suggests they will be levied at 18p and 24p per litre.

Examples of drinks which would currently fall under the higher rate of the sugar tax include full strength Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Lucozade Energy and Irn-Bru, the Treasury said. The lower rate would catch drinks such as Dr Pepper, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes Indian tonic water and alcohol free shandy.

When it comes to the sugar tax, all the emphasis has been on drinks. There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, unlike a chocolate bar or slice of cake, they are not automatically seen as a treat. People who drink them tend to have them every day.

Secondly, some of the drinks are incredibly high in sugar. A typical can contains enough sugar – about nine teaspoons – to take someone over their recommended sugar intake in one hit.

For teenagers they are the number one source of sugar intake while overall, children get a third of their daily sugar intake from them.

They have also been dubbed “empty calories” as they have no nutritional benefit.

Mr Osborne said the money raised – an estimated £520 million a year, will be spent on increasing the funding for sport in primary schools.

There has been pressure on ministers to increase spending in this area to build on the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games and in light of the low numbers of children who take part in regular activity.

But while the tax applies to the whole of the UK, Mr Osborne announcement on where the money is spent applies solely to England. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are free to decide how to spend their share.

The issue has been described as one of the most serious public health challenges for the 21st Century by the World Health Organization, while NHS England’s Simon Stevens has dubbed it “the new smoking”.

Health Direct applauds this new initiative and is sure that this will be just the start. Mr Osbourne has a habit of returning to existing taxes and constantly increasing them- like to tobacco and wine.

Hospitals may end be over crowded tonight as they fail to discharge patients because of the junior doctor strike.

The NHS seemed to cope well on Wednesday following the walkout from 08:00 GMT over the contract dispute. But NHS England said the second day of the 48 hour walkout in England was always going to be more difficult.

Officials said hospitals may struggle to discharge patients without junior medics on wards.

Dr Anne Rainsberry, who is in charge of planning during the strike, suggested hospitals might find it difficult to discharge patients, which could then create a backlog in hospital wards.

She said this was because they had a “valuable role” in chasing up test results and ensuring patients were ready for discharge.

“So far the NHS is holding up, but we always expected the second half of the strike will be more challenging,” she said.

She also urged patients to go to hospital only when absolutely necessary.

“If people need medical help and it’s not an emergency they should consider NHS Choices, visit their local pharmacy, or call their GP or NHS 111 for more serious matters. If their condition is an emergency or life-threatening they should call 999 as usual or go to A&E.”

Doctors are providing emergency cover during the walkout, which ends on Friday morning, and consultants, nurses and midwives are all working in hospital as normal. GP surgeries are largely unaffected.

On Wednesday just over half of junior doctors expected in work did not turn up – a figure broadly in line with the previous strikes and to be expected considering the numbers needed to provide emergency care.

The latest walkout is the third in the long running dispute, but the first to last 48 hours.

So far 19,000 operations and treatments have had to be postponed because of industrial action. The NHS carries out about 30,000 procedures a day.

Thousands of check-ups, appointments and tests have been affected as well.

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said she had “growing concern” about the dispute.

“Whatever the rights and wrongs of the arguments put forward by either side, the failure to resolve the differences by agreement is bad for doctors, bad for the taxpayer, but above all bad for patients and the NHS.”

This week’s walkout is the first of three 48 hour stoppages planned by the British Medical Association as it continues its fight against the government’s plans to force through the changes to pay and conditions. The next two are planned for April.

The union has also said it will be launching a legal challenge to oppose the imposition of the contract that was announced following last month’s strike.

But ministers have said they will be pushing ahead with imposition regardless. The new contracts are due to go out in May and will come into force from August.

The BMA said it “deeply regretted” the disruption that was being caused, but the action was necessary because of the “unfair” changes being imposed on the profession.